The replacement for our good old passport has arrived and it will save you time.
The passport is a precious key when you want to travel but it is also synonymous with some hassles. Lengthy deadlines and multiple papers to provide are among the pitfalls when obtaining your first passport or renewing an expired passport. This is only the beginning since you then have to go through multiple checks and queues as evidenced by the monstrous queues sometimes filmed at the customs and border guard post at Roissy airport… All of this making sure you never misplace your papers.
Good news, it will (maybe) be over soon! If for several years, passport manufacturers but also States have been working on new and more modern solutions, a real boost has been made and suggests an imminent end to the precious paper sesame. Several airports are conducting experiments. How it works ? The passenger is indeed checked before boarding the plane, but it is via a digital document that is very easy to obtain. The traveler “without a passport” downloads a dedicated application in which he fills out a small digital file in a few minutes.
It is therefore already possible to do without a passport at Helsinki airport, at least for certain flights and destinations. The experience is open to any traveler taking one of the eligible flights, those of the national company Finnair to the United Kingdom. Since leaving the EU, the United Kingdom has required new documents from European travelers and an identity card is no longer sufficient. “Passengers on Finnair flights to London, Edinburgh and Manchester can go through border control faster and easier than usual, without queuing. This is possible by downloading the DTC app and registering in advance as only a voluntary user”, clarified the Finnish border guards. Authorization to board is included in a QR Code that must simply be presented to a dedicated controller.
This is the first time that this so-called DTC digital document has been open to the general public, but other countries have already announced such projects. If you are planning to travel to Croatia, the Netherlands or Canada in the coming weeks, you may also be affected. Waiting for France? Please note that the project in Helsinki is partly financed by the European Union and that France could therefore soon also test this digital document.